Category: News

We are delighted to announce the launch of version 1 of the eTMF Exchange Mechanism Standard to support eTMF transfer during the DIA Annual Meeting in Boston, USA.
To mark this occasion, DIA have kindly provided facilities during the DIA Annual Meeting in Boston. Paul Fenton, Elvin Thalund and Karen Roy will be presenting the TMF Reference Model and the eTMF Exchange Mechanism Standard. The TMF vendor community involved in the eTMF Exchange Mechanism Standard will also be present and have kindly agreed to contribute towards drinks and snacks!
The meeting will be at 5.30 pm until 7.00 pm on Tuesday June 26 in the Otis Room at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel. This meting is not restricted to conference attendees; anyone with an interest in the Exchange Mechanism Standard is welcome to attend.
So that we have an idea of likely attendance, please let us know using the form below if you are interested in attending this launch event.
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The TMF Plan Template Subgroup of the TMF Reference Model Project is pleased to announce that the TMF Plan Template version 1.0 is now available for use. You can download this free of charge from our Resources web page.
The purpose of a TMF Plan is to leverage TMF expectations between sponsors and relevant TMF stakeholders (e.g., CROs/vendors) to ensure delivery of a high quality TMF, and that what is expected from all concerned parties (CROs, vendors and sponsors) is clearly defined. The complexity of the TMF is an all too familiar reality in clinical trial conduct. The delegation of varied responsibilities to CROs/vendors, each with their unique internal procedures, necessitates careful planning for managing TMFs. What is the structure of the TMF and where will it be located? What is the procedure for filing essential documents and how will access to the TMF be granted to those who need it? These are just some of the questions that we hope can be answered by adopting the TMF Plan template. Rather than attempting to create your TMF Plan from a blank page, the TMF Reference Model Project are making available this template that you can use as your starting point.
It is important to note that this TMF Plan Template has been written to cover both sponsor and investigator TMFs but is easy to adapt if your organization has separate, documented procedures for each type of document.
The template includes green text which is there to provide guidance to the user on how to best adapt the TMF Plan depending on the type, size, complexity of the clinical trial. As such, it should be taken as a recommendation on how the template can be used, rather than how it should be used. Users of the template are highly encouraged to adapt the document to complement their needs and to cross-reference internal SOPs or other written procedures rather than duplicating the text within this plan.
Whereas many questions have been considered, and hopefully addressed, we are well aware that this first version of the template may not be perfect and can be improved based on your feedback as you begin using it.  This is the start of a conversation and we really want to hear your feedback as you begin using it.
To provide feedback please use the form that you can access at the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/fX2xmD1ACOJSCiVy2. This link is also published on our Resources page.

It was recently noted by one of our very observant users that the Milestones worksheet included eight artifacts for which milestones were not suggested! Once we were made aware of this gap, the milestones team very rapidly reviewed these eight artifacts and assigned milestones. The revised worksheet (v1.1) has now been approved by the Steering Committee and is available to download from the Resources page.
Many eTMF systems now included milestone assignments for each artifact so you should find this tool helpful to check your system configuration. In addition, the worksheet can be extremely helpful to assist with manual QC and completeness checks of paper TMFs. We have seen a great example where a sponsor has created trial, country and site level checklists for each milestone, based on the TMF Reference Model worksheet. These provide an invaluable tool to study team members who need to know which documents to check for at each filing level and at each milestone.

The DIA Document & Records Management Community completed an initiative in 2012 to define a Framework for the Destruction of Paper. The results have been widely published and used by many companies to define policies and SOPs for document retention, retrieval and destruction. Many colleagues on the TMF Reference Model project participated in this initiative. We have noticed that some rules within the regions have changed over the past 5+ years (e.g. what is a certified copy) and we feel it is time to Review, Assess, and Update the current recommendations and provide a new version of the framework. Understandably, we are curious about the experiences that you/the industry have had with the Framework. We would like to understand where it has been a success, and where changes should be made to make that Framework more useful.
An effort is being organised to accomplish these objectives to be conducted during 2018. At this point, we anticipate the effort will include 3 phases:
1. Survey our experience and progress to date
2. Upgrade the Framework to include regulatory and best practices updates and other desirable changes.
3. Formulate recommendations and a toolkit for implementation.
Each of these phases have an expected timeline that overlaps the others to some extent. We would like to initiate the survey phase in January and complete it by the end of March. We welcome members to join the initiative and participate in one, two or all 3 of the phases dependent upon your availability and expertise. It is possible you were involved in the original project and it would be great to have you back on board, either on the same sub-team or perhaps a different sub-team this time round. If you weren’t previously on the team, it would also be great to have you on board too!
The teams will be organized according to the following areas. Please respond with your choices of where you would like to participate.

• Survey (assess experience to date and future needs)
• Records Management
• Regulatory
• Quality
• Legal Requirements
• Technology
• Implementation Toolkit

Please respond via the Contact Form below. Thank you.
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Please note: the scope of this initiative is not limited to trial documents but is shared here as it will be of interest to the TMF Reference Model community.

The eTMF Exchange Mechanism Team – a sub-group of the TMF Reference Model project – has been working on a standard¹ for the transfer of TMF data between different eTMF systems for around three years. The objective is to define a simple standard that could be used in a number of scenarios:

• Final export of eTMF content for archiving;
• Interim transfer of eTMF to a central eTMF or other document repository;
• Migration of eTMF during mergers/acquisions;
• Migration of eTMF for system upgrades or change;
• Final transfer of eTMF content from third party (e.g. CRO) to sponsor.

We are very pleased to announce that the draft standard is now ready for industry review (see schedule – click for larger image).
A technical team has already been established for the technical review of the standard. This comprises representatives from companies such as Veeva, TransPerfect, Phlexglobal, Montrium, MasterControl, Arisglobal, Wingspan/IQVIA, goBalto, OpenText and Navitas. This team will be focussed on reviewing the metadata structure, XML definitions and structure, and adaptability and utility from a technical perspective.
The Exchange Mechanism team are now looking for volunteers to participate in a business review of the standard, looking at how well the specification as a whole would satisfy business needs. Volunteers will be invited to a one hour orientation meeting in December to get insights on the review and feedback process. The estimated total effort for the meeting, your review and submission of feedback is four to six hours over a 6 – 8 week period.
To join the team and become a business reviewer, simply register online and select “Exchange Mechanism” from the list of active work groups. You must have the time available to participate; there will be other opportunities for you to have visibility of the draft specification if this is your only reason for joining!
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¹Standard: the term is used here in its general sense i.e. “used or accepted as normal or average; viewed as authoritative and so widely read”. Currently, the specification will not be authorized or published by a recognized standards body, though this may be considered at a future time. Following the closure of the OASIS eTMF Technical Committee prior to finalization of an eTMF standard, this is the only eTMF technical standard under development at this time and has the support of all major eTMF vendors.

The TMF Reference Model has been developed to be equally applicable to clinical trials using investigational medicinal product (IMP) and those using medical devices and diagnostics (MD&D). The model includes metadata to designate certain artifacts as corresponding to IMP trials or to device trials. However, in practice, it is sometimes difficult to apply the model to MD&D trials. The terminology used for artifacts or the language used to describe the definition and purpose of an artifact is often too heavily slanted towards IMP trials. For example, zone 6 for MD&D trials should correspond to the test device or test diagnostic article but this is not self-evident in the way the model is worded.
It is for these reasons that we have initiated a new sub-team within the TMF Reference Model Project to identify how the model might be improved for use on MD&D trials. This might include, for example, enhancing the definition and purpose for existing artifacts so that the text is more meaningful for those trials. It might include the additional of sub-artifacts that are specific to MD&D trials. It might even include the additional of new artifacts!
If you have experience of MD&D trials and would like to participate in this activity, please apply NOW to join the group…. or encourage a knowledgeable colleague to join! It is hoped that this will be a fairly short-term project with deliverables expected in Q1 2018. Please only apply to join if you can spare the time to contribute; the output will be freely available to everyone. To join, please send a request to  devices+subscribe@tmfrefmodel.groups.io, stating who you are and your company.

We are pleased to announce the publication of the final deliverables from the Milestones Sub-group, led by Kathleen Kirby.
The purpose of this document is to define the latest point in time when an artifact is to be submitted / filed within the TMF. Of course, there is a regulatory expectation that artifacts are filed contemporaneously so our guide simply identifies the latest filing time that we think is reasonable. In addition, as this is a guide, each Sponsor should modify the Milestone/Event list according to their practices. The intention of Milestones/Events is to ensure maintenance of the TMF on an ongoing basis.
Many artifacts will require updating throughout the trial. We have assigned the first Milestone/Event where the artifact would typically first appear in the TMF. At the time Milestones/Events were incorporated into the TMF Reference Model, only one Milestone/Event was assigned to each artifact for each level. Future plans include adding in additional Milestones/Events at each level.
It should be noted that if the Sponsor wants FEWER Study Milestones / Events to track to (for example, to align with a Clinical Trial Management System), they can roll up into a later Study Milestone / Event as these are listed broadly in chronological sequence. Conversely, if the Sponsors wants MORE Study Milestones / Events to track to, they can create their own OR utilize the sub activities identified.
If artifacts are filed and then updated, the updated artifacts are to be filed contemporaneously with collection (in real time).
For further information, including a short list of Frequently Asked Questions and a copy of the TMF Reference Model that includes the milestones and events (see Excel columns U-Z), please refer to the Resources web page.

It has been over eight years since the charter for the TMF Reference Model was published (April 2009). A lot has changed in those eight years but the charter has remained the same. So the Steering Committee felt it was high time for a review!
The Steering Committee are pleased to announce the publication of a revised version of the charter. This revision includes much content that is largely the same as the original version, though structured a little differently to make the text flow more logically. However, the new charter also includes some changes to recognise where the project is today:

• includes governance of the project by a Steering Committee;
• includes the requirement for Steering Committee members to also be DIA members (the project is a working group within the DIA Document & Records Management Community);
• recognises the valuable contribution made by non-DIA members;
• includes the maintenance of member information (to comply with data protection regulations);
• includes the maintenance of this website: and
• clarifies the scope of the project.

On the final point – project scope – the Steering Committee recognised that from time to time the project team had got involved in several issues that, whilst being important and related to TMF management, they were not directly related to the development or implementation of the TMF Reference Model. The new charter clarifies the limited scope of the project and will work with the DIA Document & Records Management Community to progress activities that are out of scope.
The new document can be found on our Resources web page.

Successful management of a TMF, whether in paper or electronic form, is highly dependent on the classification system (e.g. TMF Reference Model) and the ability for a reviewer to identify and locate documents by specific attributes, such as the document date. However, deciding which date to use as the “document date” can often be subjective and therefore creates inconsistency in file maintenance; or even worse, documents can be perceived as being missing because a document is misfiled or mis-classified due to an arbitrary selection of the document date.
The TMF Reference Model Project’s Date Conventions workgroup was formed to solve this problem. It is comprised of individuals who represent a wide variety of perspectives, enabling the resource to be adaptable to all users and environments. The group consists of representation from:

• Large and small organisations
• Pharma, CROs, eTMF vendors and non-profit
• Paper TMF, eTMF and hybrid environments
• Numerous functional roles, from the daily operational end-user to the TMF Specialist

This workgroup is excited to announce the release of two new resources which bring together these decades of experience, in order to improve consistency in TMF management:

• Suggested date conventions added to the TMF Reference Model for each artifact (see column AD)
• A supplemental guidance document that provides:
  • Rationale for creating date conventions
  • Definitions for common terms
  • Standard rules by document type and for ambiguous dates (e.g. month and year, but no day) and date format
  • How to implement date conventions within your organisation

These two resources are now available to download on our Resources web page.

What is Quality Control and what does it look like for your clinical trial? Those are some of the questions you may have about TMF Quality that are addressed by The Trial Master File Reference Model Quality Group’s (TMF RM QG) latest output documents. They have recently released their expert recommendations for a thorough and complete TMF review. The group, with representation from across the world, released straightforward guidelines to improve your TMF quality.
The review of the TMF is two-part process that consists of quality control of both the individual TMF documents as well as the entire TMF. The group recommends ensuring each document meets the criteria of the mnemonic “R.U.T.O.L.A.” to be considered “TMF Ready.” The RUTOLA criteria will definitely get you out of the rut of the old guessing game when it comes to QC of TMF documents! Each document should be:

• Retrievable – A document that gets filed should be quickly and efficiently accessible utilizing appropriate metadata and an organized filing system, such as the TMF Reference Model.
• Unique – Each required document is present without duplicates.
• Translations – All required translation documentation is present.
• Original – Documents are unaltered.
• Legible – All document information is comprehensible and clean with identifiable stamps and signatures
• Applicable – The document is necessary to support the story of a clinical trial and is required as per the filing system (TMF Reference Model) or the company’s policy.

TMF Quality Tools
Almost every undertaking requires the right tools and ensuring TMF quality is no different. The TMF RM QG also outlines some essential tools to pave your way to TMF quality success. These tools include TMF Reference Model (ideally customised to fit the needs of the specific study), a comprehensive TMF Management Plan, and a Corrective Action Plan.
This is a small extract of the work that the TMF RM QG have published. You can download the full document, as well as a PowerPoint presentation slide deck that was presented to the TMF Reference Model group in November 2016 from our Resources web page.